The Yale Saloon

The food was great and the staff friendly but the food was a little pricy and the waiter took his time coming to take our order overall not bad idea recommend it

Food was good! Line dancing was good. A nice mix of young and old + the bull riding! Its everything the Bourbon always appeared to be able to be but just never quite was. Hopefully they keep up the good work and atmosphere! The wait staff and door staff were also great! Looking forward to coming back again soon…

The newly refurbished Yale Hotel and Saloon rests in that old section of Granville Street, you know where you used to go as a kid cuz they’d serve anyone. From the outside, you might get the impression that the Yale is a «blues/​jazz» bar, but it’s really not so much. Once inside, it’s got the slick look of a modern country bar with must-​haves like a mechanical bull you can ride after signing away any rights to retribution should you get hurt (you won’t, the bull is surrounded by a bouncy castle playground and never gets going very fast, it’s what they call a «gringo» bull). They’ve also got line dancing for the uninitiated and lots of country & western paraphernalia scattered around the room and bolted to the walls, and of course the obligatory giant flat screen TVs all over the place, Heaven forbid we miss a Canuck game.
It’s a big space with lots of room for large groups with a front area (home of the rubber bull) and a larger rear room, complete with wooden dance floor and mini stage area, presumably for those jazz groups that play there. They’ve got a kitchen that churns out average fare at best and a couple of bartenders that mix up the booze.
So why the 4 our of 5 stars? Well, the staff is great. From the GM, Seamus, who’s everywhere he needs to be and a right friendly fella, down thru all the many servers who are always happy to help and there when you need them. The Yale is an old hotel sitting near the end of Granville, that’s been spiffed up and gentrified for the kind of clientele that they’re probably hoping to attract. It’s no real jazz bar, way too clean for that, but with a perky, friendly staff and decent enuf food and drink for the price paid, It’s definitely worth a visit. And more importantly, the vibe the staff helps create makes for a fun night out for all.

This place just re-​opened after being closed for what seems like forever.
What got my interest was that the outside makes it look like a cool blues place, but once you get inside, it looks like some middle-​american country bar. The music? Country as well. It’s too bad though. There really isn’t any legit Blues-​type bar in Vancouver, and that would have been fucking awesome to see. Kind of a let-​down.
It’s essentially a big room with really small tables, and an average sized bar. It was empty when I went, so I guess they’re finding their legs at the moment with regular customers/​bar patrons.
I decided to give the food a try, as there aren’t many legit BBQ places around downtown.
The food was just about average.
Pulled Pork was ok, although the sauce was kind of an odd type of sauce, as it wasn’t really suited to be used with pulled pork (kind of sour/​bitter). Pulled Pork definitely needs a sweeter type of BBQ sauce with it.
They have your typical sides that you normally see with BBQ, like slaw, beans, and cornbread.
I have to give it to them with the cornbread though. It was really well made, pretty fucking good. That’s one thing they managed to knock out of the park.
Beans were not your normal beans, it was kind of a mixture of all types, which was an interesting change. Slaw was ok, maybe a little dry, could of used a tad more dressing.
My biggest gripe is two-​fold, as it goes hand-​in-​hand.
The prices are quite high, and the portions are not very large.
If they could increase the portion sizes of their meat, then it would justify the prices.
I recommend that they either cut the prices, or increase the portions. Otherwise, you end up with $ 40 worth of nothing, and a bewildered empty stomach
You should take a look at their take-​out container. It makes you think you’re getting his huge fucking meal, and you open it up, and there’s barely anything inside. Way to get my hopes up Yale Saloon.
There is some potential there, but there’s a long way to go before I would consistently eat here.

Really enjoying the new ambiance of the Yale, the food is fantastic, and they sure know how to throw a party. Looking forward to becoming a regular for Tuesday blues too!

Have been here a few times so far and I have been really impressed with the place. The décor is really quirky and the mechanical bull is a lot of fun! The staff seem to have fun with their tables which is refreshing and the wings are by far the best wings I have ever tasted (this is a big call for me to make as I love wings)
Can’t wait to try the rest of the menu!
I will be back :)

The food here is delicious, particularly the smoked meats, the jalepeño cornbread, the slaw and the beans! While our meat did come out a little colder than it should have, this was promptly fixed by our server and another person (who I assumed to be the manager on duty) and the food cost was removed from our bill. A great response from the service team.
Highly recommended for that cornbread… I’m still daydreaming about it!

After a disappointing first visit we were contacted by Seamus O’Brien the GM at The Yale Saloon and invited to give it a second chance. I’m glad we did. Tuesday Night Blues at the Yale hit most of the high notes of the old Yale with ease. Great live Blues in an intimate setting along with excellent food, large portions and attentive, friendly staff. Tuesday Night Blues is the time to visit if you’re looking for something that resembles what used to happen at the old Yale everyone fondly remembers.

The Mac n Cheese is not to be missed. Fantastic food and great staff.
Oh, and watching people fall off the mechanical bull is great entertainment!

I’m not impressed with this place. The highlight of the place would have been the servers who were all friendly and attentive. What turned me off is the food and the associated prices.
From the waitress’s recommendation, I ordered the BBQ Chicken Sliders for $ 13, which consists of 4 tiny sliders, with crispy chicken and bacon in between waffle-​like ‘buns’. I also ordered their apparently very delicious, served on the skillet Mac and Cheese for $ 12. While I come away very full, a $ 30 bill for just an OK food did not leave me with a good impression.
To be fair, I probably should have ordered their BBQ platter considering that this place seemed to focus on that. Also, I probably should have dropped by during weekend nights instead of weekday nights to maybe experience the ‘fun’ they advertised in their site. The bottom line for me is whether I would come back again and since this place is new, I would probably give it another chance, hence my 3 star rating.

Just popped into the new Yale Saloon at the foot of the Granville bridge for dinner. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone was. Vancouver is notorious for having servers with less than a positive attitude, so this was a nice change. Food was exactly what you’d hope for in a BBQ style bar. The GM went from table to table making sure everyone was comfortable and well taken care of. Live sports on the T. V’s, knowledgeable service staff, and great food. I’ll def. be back. I just hope the service and quality of food stays like this once everyone hears about how great this place is and they get packed.